THOUGHTS, MEANDERINGS AND SOLILOQUIES, FACT AND FICTION WITH A LITTLE HUMOUR & BITCHING THROWN INTO THE MIX. TELLING IT LIKE IT IS FOR THOSE WHO MAY NOT EVEN KNOW HOW TO SPELL IT. A CROATIA RELATED INFORMATIONAL BLOG WITHOUT THE MAINSTREAM BS & NOT DEVOTED TO STAMPS, COINS, SPORTS, MUSIC OR POLITICAL CORRECTNESS, BUT IF IT'S CROATIA STUFF, YOU JUST MAY FIND IT HERE...

Thursday, 19 May 2016

(The below excerpt regarding Stipe Miocic and the person Billy (a psuedonym representing similar persons) is based on unverified 3rd party information sources and may or may not have happened. The psuedonym "Billy" and related events were added to elaborate on other already included and preexisting text and facts which emphasize the other presented factual information about UFC 198 and the person of Stipe Miocic, which are part of the primary overall central theme and purpose of this post)

I guess I'm going to do one of my these days very rare sports themed posts, but this one goes beyond just sports, because I always like to add the little known and behind the scenes facts to make it more interesting. For those not in the know, UFC mixed martial artist fighter Stipe Miocic, who also just happens to have Croatian descent, just days ago realized his dream and became UFC Heavyweight Champion at UFC 198. I'm not going to get all analytical and add sports commentary about the main event fight, because there's tons of websites and articles out there doing that already.

However, I will just add that there was a lot more extracirrular goings on than just the main fighting event. Soon after the fight was over, Stipe (In Croatian pronounced: "Steep-eh Me-oh-chich" and spelled Stipe Miočić) ended up winning the first major championship by anyone or by any team representing Cleveland since 1964, extending back to when the Cleveland Browns last won a championship before there even was a Superbowl. Since that time no major sports team or sports figure has been able to bring championship silverware back to Cleveland, so that's something worth noting also. (aka the Cleveland sports curse, which is almost like the Buffalo Bills curse, and similar to the Curse of Frank Mahovlich etc) Also of course, he let all the cameras know that besides Cleveland that "Croatia has a Champion" also, which was cool to add in also because it lets people know your descent, which a lot of athletes do these days anyway. (He visited Croatia for the first time twice in 2014, and even met Mirko "Cro-Cop" Filipović before his official retirement, his Croatian roots specifically are on the Croatian coast in the Dalmatian island village of Rtina Miočići, a small and sleepy quiet location not far from the city of Zadar, (population about 475), actually the kind of place you'd like to retire in and spend the rest of your days swimming, boating, fishing, drinking wine and šljivovica/rakija (plumb brandy) and having outdoor pečenka and other parties etc. If you're whipping down the highway and blink you'll probably miss it)

Back to the UFC, firstly, going into the fight as the underdog they were screwing up pronouncing his name plenty of times I noticed. It's not all that important or a major issue, but it's just such an easy name to pronounce to begin with. It's really not that hard to pronounce and is an easy grammar actually, lots of people have way more complicated sounding names. Heck, I heard some names being mentioned that were 3 and even 4 names long with tons of syllables like it was nothing, I heard the tv people say names like "Miochik", "Miotich", "Mochik", Miokich" and a couple others. I'll just leave it at that.

Secondly, not only was the main card in Brazil, which is the country of his opponent and the 45,000+ crowd in attendance was completely cheering for his opponent, but he also had to contend with 45,000+ fans yelling "Uh vai morrer!", which translated means "You will die!" This actually may have something to do with the recent warnings of the Brazilian soccer superstar Rivaldo, he's actually encouraging tourists and people to stay away from the Rio Olympics this summer because he says it's too violent and dangerous, plus all the protests there against the "rape culture" going on for years, like over 60,000 rapes a year. (I even came across some television preacher types saying that the Zika virus is a plague from God, so that couldn't be a good thing either probably) Then when you factor in the thousands of Brazil flags, banners and then the death chants, well now that gives a whole new perspective on things and the atmosphere to contend with. He was definitely in enemy territory as the saying goes, in the days leading to the main event and not even being given a chance supposedly, being told it was over before it even started, that he's overrated etc. So basically it was one against over 45,000 and they all wanted him to die even before entering the octagon. (Let that be a lesson for all the boys and girls out there, when you're confronted on all sides, when people want you to fail and even die yelling death chants at you, you can still accomplish your goal or task and walk out a champion, you too can prove them wrong and do what you came to do, just like in the movies), this has been a custom over the years from what I read, Non-Brazilian opponents being greeted by these notorious death chants is commonplace these days supposedly.

But also something else most people probably don't know, is that Stipe Miocic is also a part-tme firefighter and paramedic, which brings me to the next probably little known tidbit. You see, Stipe just a few weeks ago was walking through the hospital, after they put out a fire and helped bring in some patients for precautionary tests. And as he was walking through a corridor on the way out he heard some voices talking in a room, it was Billy and his mom. Billy was on his bed and all sad because the doctors told his mom that the leukemia had spread, they said the various pills and medications weren't working. (the television preachers took the last of their faith seeds but the miracle cure didn't happen like promised, the cancer instead got worse) Well long story short, Stipe told Billy that he was going to become UFC Heavyweight Champion the next month in Brazil, and that if he wins then Billy's cancer is going to go away. He told Billy that he'll get better and be out of the hospital soon only if believes that he'll win in Brazil. Billy then immediately felt better and said, "You mean the cancer might leave if you win against them meanies? Ok then, I'll get better if you say so, if you become the UFC Champ, I promise." Billy's mom hugged Billy and they were hopeful again as Stipe had to get back to the fire station, but before leaving he said "That's right Billy, you're gonna get better soon because I'm the Champ." Well, Stipe did his part of the deal, with 2:13 left in the 1st round and surrounded by death chants and masks too, Stipe accomplished his goal he set out to do and kept his promise with Billy too. In a way, Billy is a UFC Champion now too. I'll just leave it at that, to protect identities, privacy and gossiping etc.

A lot of the comments on sites I came across and read were saying things like it was too bad that he was out like a light before even hitting the mat, wishing he had a chance to throw in a few more strikes before the referee stopped it, really tenderize him for the fans. Also, rumours are already circulating that his very first UFC title defence could even be in his hometown of Cleveland. (which I again am not going to predict about, analyze or comment different scenarios etc), but I think that would be pretty cool if they did. The Cleveland/Ohio area has a sizeable Croatian diaspora population so he would definitely get some extra fan support there and from other parts of North America, insead of death chants and probably a lot less name mispronunciations too, I think so anyway.

Interestingly and lastly, soon after arriving back in Cleveland, Stipe even hit a home run at Cleveland Indians batting practice, just to make things even more interesting afterwards. (There could very well be a career in the Major Leagues after retiring from the octagon ring down the road) The main thing though and point of this whole post, like I said, is when you're confronted on all sides, when people want you to fail and even die and it seems like there's no chance, that you can still accomplish your goal and walk out a champion. Anyway, below are a few pics and the video highlights from UFC 198.

Celebrating the win with 2:13 left in the 1st round. Good view of his Croatian coat of arms tattoo on his foot, which he didn't get a chance to really use this time. (It may be time for a new celebratory tattoo, a skull wearing a fireman helmet tattoo would look cool, see related tattoos post)

Back towards the dressing room after winning the belt.

"Mission accomplished" and soon after numerous congrats from the various social media sites. (Including from the very first UFC Welterweight Champion and UFC 16 Welterweight Tournament Winner and UFC Hall of FamerPat Miletich, who actually helped found and start the whole UFC thing around 1995)

Posing with fiance Ryan Marie Carney and his coaching staff after the win.

Approaching the octagon ring through the thousands of "Uh vai morrer/You will die!"death chants.

Highlights from the UFC 198 Heavyweight Championship belt main event...

Thursday, 12 May 2016

A foggy scene of fog surrounding the hilltop village of foggy Motovun. Old local legends passed down for many centuries tell of many strange otherwordly beings, occurences and happenings unfolded when the full moon comes out as well. Thousands of years old fog that has many tales to tell.

Well, looking around I just noticed that it's just about that time for another post of some sort. I lost track of time while being in touch with my acquaintances regarding various paranormal and unexplained phenomena taking place currently, including some information not known by hardly anyone that would blow most peoples mind. (A couple of them were actual paranormal and anomaly investigators and told me some very interesting things) As well as some of the updated Walmart People websites and videos floating around. (Which may very well also blow some peoples minds actually). On top of that, recently even the Brazilian soccer star Rivaldo went beyond my telling it like it is and is actually encouraging tourists and people to stay away from the Rio Olympics this summer because it's too violent and dangerous and then all the "rape culture" protests going on there too. I briefly touched upon this topic during the last World Cup and have now been vindicated it seems, because you simply can't argue with facts/statistics/news headlines and your very own sports star. And I'll tell you, I'm not too keen on the Euro's taking place next month in France either, because with all the recent goings on in Paris and Belgium recently and lots of other happenings that mainstream media doesn't report or care about, the number of Isis and Talibans living just in Paris alone is incredible, many even going to fight for them and then coming back. If the reader is in Croatia, I say don't even bother and just save the money and just watch the games on the big screen downtown or in your local bar/pub and drink the Croatian beers there (Karlovačko, Ožujsko, Osječko, any of them), which I'm sure will probably be much harder to find in France anyway. (Heck, order a French beer to make it feel more authentic if you want, order some Hachis Parmentier or Cassoulet for the full effect, even sing Frère Jacques or some Léo Marjane and Odette Dulac songs to feel like you're among the French, get a Brigitte Bardot hairstyle to feel like you're really there among all that fromage) I stopped over through De Gaulle Airport a few years ago and it was already hellish chaos even then, (like a massive packed flea market from hell, people hopped up on sweets yelling and making noises and then lugging around all their luggage on top of that), but now you won't even know who has a National Enquirer and Doritos or who has a bomb ticking/loaded weapon in their carry-on baggage. (Is that a cellphone or a detonator? they have detonators now that only make people think it's a cellphone, sometimes the person babbling around on a cellphone is just a diversion for the guy with the detonator, the mighty Detonator of God I think it's called, there could even be a strange subversive standing with you in line somewhere attempting to control your mind and identity with some sort of voodoo spell talk and stories). Just drink the Croatian beers, relax, chill out and stay alive from the various kooks, subversives and crazies I say. (Don't forget, there will also be various religious cults and subversive mind control sects people, probably trying to brainwash and shove their propaganda pamphlets at you, some even including cartoons to draw you under their nefarious voodoo spells of trickery and fabricated deceit, to believe in flat earths and talking 7 headed golden beasts with lamped feet and eyes floating in the sky and worse, terrible happenings all the way around just to spoil your trip). If you do decide to go to the Euro's anyway even after warning you, then just take the train or bus and bring your own loaded weapon just to be sure, you simply have to take precautions these days. God forbid that your soccer jersey gets splattered with blood or torn to shreds because they're not cheap or easy to clean stains from after all, jeans, shoes, shirts and even limbs and family members are easy to replace these days, but jerseys are another thing altogether, that's the way I see it.

Anyway, I'm just throwing in a video this time, this also is not any sort of tourism post because I don't do those, just some interesting and cool images and scenes. I've used some videos by photographers Romulic and Stojcic at some previous posts, who have recently become especially known for their award winning timelapse photography videos. However, this time there's absolutely no city or urban views, no pedestrians, no vehicles or boats, no fireworks, city buildings skylines scenes, just mainly scenes of the small sleepy hilltop village of Motovun....and that primordial shapeshifting fog.

The Croatian medieval hilltop village of Motovun is an unmistakeable symbol of the Istrian peninsula interior, near the Italian and Slovenian borders, who also have a large part of the Istrian peninsula and similar medieval villages. Narrow streets, historical buildings and romantic views go hand in hand with excellent local vineyards, wines and cuisine, as if it was plucked straight out of ancient history, or at times like out of some new Hollywood spooky horror or fairy tale fantasy flick, like they did in that movie with the fog, that movie where all that fog is going on and all those things happen in the fog, the various ghouls and Fifa officials ghouls galavanting and hiding in the fog and all that. (oh wait, that last part is real life, but still). At the foot of the Motovun hill before there even was the village of Motovun, Jason and the Argonauts of Greek mythology during their many travelling adventures and after capturing the Golden Fleece, are said to have sailed along the Mirna River below, (this way back when the Croatian tribes were still living well north of the Danube in ancient White and Great Croatia according to Eastern Roman Emperor Constantine VII sources, aka the land of Hyperborea in and around the Carpathians and beyond). It's not always this way though, quaint and quiet all the time, far from it, every summer the annual and little known about Motovun Film Festival also takes place there among other activities, so these are some less seen views of foggy Motovun. Actually, that would pretty cool, watching some supernatural or horror movie at the film festival and then the fog coming below out at the same time, just perfect. (see previous posts and links below for more about that)

Theses kinds of timelapse videos have become more commonplace these days, but this one looks so surreal at times you would swear that magical video editing, CGI or special effects were used, including fake fog above the Mirna river valley, but they didn't. Some of their other videos are interesting too. They even recently did one of Nina Kraljic's Eurovision song 'Lighthouse' videos with their 'Hvar in the Storm' timelapse, which also looks surreal at times.

They were lucky too; hundreds of hours were involved and the fog lasted only a few hours – just enough for Romulic & Stojcic to film the effect using their timelapse technique. This one they named “Misty Motovun”, for self-explanatory reasons, check it out below...

This is just another interesting video I came across and decided to throw in, footage from last year's "Festival Visualia" in the downtown of the city of Pula. This one isn't time lapse photography but footage from a 3D projection mapping event that took place in 2015, which is not far from Motovun and coincidentally starts up the 3rd edition today again for 3 days. I don't think I have to expalain what 3D mapping and visual lighting technologies and software is all about, the end result is some pretty amazing visuals. The combination of mixing various modern lighting technology onto modern, centuries old and renaissance/baroque era buildings, and even on buildings remaining from the Roman Empire times, all amounts to a very cool creative ambiance over the 3 days. The video footage pretty well explains it all, you can hit the links for more information.

....and from 2014 also. This one is cooler because it has footage of those diabolical LED drumming evil mimes that are all the rage these days and almost everywhere you go, they're like Spawns of Satan practically with their diabolical subliminal choreographed drumming and outfits. (all the boys and girls reading may want to close your eyes when they appear because they're pretty creepy and scary looking) They're probably there to usher in hellish torment from the Beelzebubs and apocalyptic plagues too, but still)

Remember the Serb Slaughter of the Montenegrins

Immediate Death Sentences For The Serbian Church Top 3 Holy Trinity, The Right Thing To Do

About Me

What is "Croatianicity"? Is it relevant in this day and age? Yes it is, and has been for many centuries. In this country of multiculturalism it can at times be a state of mind or even just those instances where one is aware of one's Croatian ethnic background. (when eating Croatian food or when in the act of seeing written material or an image that is pertaining to Croatians or Croatia) Very similar to:
..."Chineseicity"..."Germanicity"..."Japanicity"...."Polishinicity"..."Irishinicity"..."Spanishinicity"
..."Norwegianicity"..."Lithuanianicity"...
"Russianicity"..."Italianicity"..."Hindustanicity"..."Greekanicity"..."Argentinianicity"..."Danishincity...and also quite a number of other "-icity's", too many to mention. "Croatianicity" just has a more Croatian flavour and theme to it...for obvious reasons.....My domain name for those interested is actually a hybrid and adaption. A domain name that includes "kitty cats", "bubbles", "unicorns", butterflies" or "daisies" would not be wise or appropriate, as here I post and discuss topics of a serious nature at times as well. All spelling mistakes are my own.